Skinner: We have to disrupt Tottenham's flow

The Reds play at Leigh Sports Village for the last time this season on Sunday, going up against the team we will face in May's Adobe Women’s FA Cup final.

After an emphatic semi-final victory over Chelsea last weekend, Skinner is back focusing on the league and the challenge that our next visitors will bring.

He spoke to the media on Friday morning about what his team have to do to beat Spurs, while also providing an injury update. Below you can view a selection of the key quotes from his pre-match press conference...

I AM A BIG FAN OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE

"Respect to Tottenham, I always respect every opponent we play. We prepare to go around their strengths, around their weaknesses. I think the difference with Tottenham this year is that, Robert [Vilahamn']s been able to get a run of those moments where you win a game and all of a sudden you get that confidence and you get into a flow state. And I think they've really benefited from that this year. I think what you have to do as a coach playing against that is try and disrupt that flow. If you disrupt the flow and get them to think about how they've got to play football, then you can disrupt their team cohesion, it changes and it adapts.

"I think this is a psychology of the performance. But we know what we have to prepare for, it's not going to be the same [as when we last played them]. There were moments in that game [in December] where I thought Tottenham were okay. We have to try and suffocate Spurs as much as we possibly can but with respect, because their players have been in top form, they've got some top forwards. The way they play is progressive. I'm a big fan of what they've done this year, but we have to find a way of overcoming that with our own qualities."

TO UNDERESTIMATE SPURS IS A SIN

“For me, it's about trying to put the best performance in, trying to win for Manchester United, for our fans. And I've said this many times people may or may not like what you do, but if you're essence is pure and is to try and win for this team or for our fans, then that's enough for me. Beating Chelsea - we know as if that's been something we've had to get off our back. We had to win it and we had to do it a different way.

“But there's another game to go [in the FA Cup], to underestimate Tottenham in a final would be a sin. So no we've done nothing yet. We've beaten Chelsea and you know if we can win the FA Cup then we can make history for the club. I'm here to do that and if that's enough for our fans, then that's fantastic. If not, I'll keep doing my job and keep working hard for them every day.”

WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO EVOLVE THE SQUAD

“I can say that we've been working all the way throughout the season because you can't just turn it on and off. I can't talk specific markets, but obviously we need to improve the experience. We also need to look at areas in which we balance our team because I think that's really important. I don't think we have enough balance between left-sided players and right-sided players. I think we've missed that this year with Gabby [George being out injured]. We also welcome back players like Grace [Clinton], we also welcome players back like Emma Watson [in the summer].

“These are players that will have a huge impact in kind of how we want to play. What I can stress is that we are looking to add players in that will make us better, I have no doubt about that. And as I say, we're working hard every day. I can't give away anything too much. There's no manager that probably would. But that's a foresight in what we need to do, balance off our team to give us the ability to attack and defend in different ways.”

TEAM NEWS

"Geyse trained earlier in the week, so I think she had a 24/48-hour [bug]. She's trained, she'll train again today. Jayde [Riviere] is going to be missing for this game, she is still progressing, hopefully coming back towards the end of the season. There is no chance we will see [Gabby George, Emma Watson or Jess Simpson] this season. I wouldn't risk them anyway.

"It's such a devastating injury if you get it wrong and I'm not somebody that short changes or cuts corners on the rehab of that. So the players need to recover properly even if that's longer than they want and they would want to be back. I think for us hitting a pre-season with them in the right space, building them properly will be really important for the team."

TICKET INFORMATION

A limited number of tickets are available for this Sunday’s fixture at Leigh Sports Village and can be purchased here.

The match will be our penultimate home fixture of the season, with the last being our final-day showdown with Chelsea at Old Trafford. Tickets for that meeting, in M16, are also on sale via our ticketing site.